CAMP PENDLETON  A military appeals court on Thursday dismissed the murder conviction of a Camp Pendleton Marine imprisoned for masterminding the kidnapping and shooting of a grandfather in Hamdaniya, Iraq.

In an 8-1 ruling, the U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals in Washington, D.C., decided to throw out Pvt. Lawrence G. Hutchins’ conviction and 11-year prison sentence. The majority said Hutchins lacked a sufficient defense team because one of his attorneys was improperly dismissed before the start of court-martial.

The next step is for the Navy’s judge advocate general to file an appeal, push for a new trial or allow Hutchins to be freed. It’s unclear whether Hutchins, who is being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., would be let out while the Navy considers its strategy.

“It was a surprise, but the right call,” said Joseph Casas, a lawyer in San Diego who represented another Hamdaniya defendant. “Given the gravity of the case and the politics involved, if I were a betting man, the government will appeal and retry.”

The Hamdaniya incident is one of the biggest war-crime cases from the Iraq war.

Hutchins and seven others from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment carried out a plot to kill the suspected insurgent Saleh Gowad. The squad couldn’t find Gowad, so it snatched a neighbor. The troops kidnapped and bound the man, stuffed his mouth and killed him on April 26, 2006, with a volley of bullets.

Hutchins received the longest prison sentence in the case — 15 years, which was later reduced to 11. He also was demoted from sergeant to private.